Black Hole Sun

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“Black Hole Sun”
“Black Hole Sun” cover
Single by Soundgarden
from the album Superunknown
B-side "Like Suicide" (acoustic) / "Kickstand" (live)
Released 1994
Format CD single, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded July 1993–September 1993 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge
Length 5:18
Label A&M
Writer(s) Chris Cornell
Producer Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden
Soundgarden singles chronology
"The Day I Tried to Live"
(1994)		 "Black Hole Sun"
(1994)		 "My Wave"
(1994)
Superunknown track listing
"Head Down"
(Track 6)		 "Black Hole Sun"
(Track 7)		 "Spoonman"
(Track 8)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. It was the third single released from the album Superunknown (1994). It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song. The song topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides and the 2007 Chris Cornell compilation The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective.

Contents

[edit] Origin and recording

The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Cornell said that he wrote the song in about 15 minutes.[1] Cornell came up with the song while using a Leslie speaker. Kim Thayil said that the Leslie speaker was perfect for the song as "it's very Beatlesque and has a distinctive sound."[2] The song was performed in drop D tuning. Matt Cameron called the song "a huge departure."[3]

[edit] Release and reception

"Black Hole Sun" was released in the summer of 1994 and became the most successful song from Superunknown on the rock charts and arguably the band's most recognizable and popular song. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In 1995 it won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.[4]

Greg Prato of Allmusic called the song "one of the few bright spots" of the summer of 1994 when "the world was still reeling from Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain's suicide the previous April." He said, "The song had a psychedelic edge to it (especially evident in the verse's guitar part), as the composition shifted between sedate melodicism and gargantuan guitar riffs. The lyrics were classic Chris Cornell — lines didn't exactly make sense on paper but did within the song."[5] J.D. Considine of Rolling Stone stated, "With its yearning, Lennonesque melody and watery, Harrisonstyle guitar, "Black Hole Sun" is a wonderful exercise in Beatleisms; trouble is, it's not a very good song, offering more in the way of mood and atmosphere than melodic direction."[6]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel included the song on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.

"Black Hole Sun" is a playable song in the game Rock Band.

[edit] Lyrical meaning

Chris Cornell stated, "It's just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song."[7] He also said that "lyrically it's probably the closest to me just playing with words for words' sake, of anything I've written. I guess it worked for a lot of people who heard it, but I have no idea how you'd begin to take that one literally."[8] In another interview he elaborated further, stating, "It's funny because hits are usually sort of congruent, sort of an identifiable lyric idea, and that song pretty much had none. The chorus lyric is kind of beautiful and easy to remember. Other than that, I sure didn't have an understanding of it after I wrote it. I was just sucked in by the music and I was painting a picture with the lyrics. There was no real idea to get across."[3] Commenting upon how the song was misinterpreted as being positive, Cornell said, "No one seems to get this, but "Black Hole Sun" is sad. But because the melody is really pretty, everyone thinks it's almost chipper, which is ridiculous."[9]

When asked about the line, "Times are gone for honest men", Cornell said:

It's really difficult for a person to create their own life and their own freedom. It's going to become more and more difficult, and it's going to create more and more disillusioned people who become dishonest and angry and are willing to fuck the next guy to get what they want. There's so much stepping on the backs of other people in our profession. We've been so lucky that we've never had to do that. Part of it was because of our own tenacity, and part of it was because we were lucky.[10]

[edit] Music video

The surreal music video for the song was directed by Howard Greenhalgh, produced by Megan Hollister for Why Not Films (London), shot by Ivan Bartos, and features post production work by 525 Post Production (Hollywood) and Soho 601 Effects (London). The video was released in June 1994.[11] After several weeks of airplay on MTV, a second version of the video was substituted containing more elaborate visual effects than the original. In the video, Cornell can be seen wearing a fork necklace given to him by Shannon Hoon.[1] Kim Thayil said that the video was one of the few Soundgarden videos the band was satisfied with.[12]

The music video for "Black Hole Sun" became a hit on MTV and received the award for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.[13] In 1995 it received the Clio Award for Alternative Music Video.[14] The video is available on the CD-ROM Alive in the Superunknown.

[edit] Live performances

Former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell performed the song on his Euphoria Morning tour and Live Earth set. It was also performed by Cornell's former band, Audioslave, on its Out of Exile tour and during its Live 8 performance. A performance of the song by Chris Cornell can be found on the Audioslave DVD Live in Cuba, which was filmed at the band's concert in Havana, Cuba.

[edit] Cover versions

It was featured in "Weird Al" Yankovic's polka medley "The Alternative Polka" from the 1996 album Bad Hair Day. Paul Anka gave "Black Hole Sun" a swing treatment on his 2005 album Rock Swings. Peter Frampton covered "Black Hole Sun" on his 2006 instrumental album, Fingerprints. Frampton was joined on the track by Matt Cameron and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. A cover was also done by the band Copeland which was featured on the 2006 compilation album Punk Goes '90s. In 2008, the Brad Mehldau Trio covered "Black Hole Sun" on the band's Live album (recorded in late 2006), working the song's verse and chorus melodies into a 23 minute long extemporaneous jazz piece.

[edit] Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Black Hole Sun" is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.[15]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Greatest Singles of All Time"[16] 2002 49
Q United Kingdom "The 1001 Best Songs Ever"[17] 2003 543
The Movement New Zealand "The 100 (+300) Greatest Songs of All Time"[18] 2004 80
The Movement New Zealand "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"[19] 2004 32
Pure Pop Mexico "The 100 Best Singles of All Time"[20] 2003 100
Spex Germany "Singles of the Year"[21] 1994 15

[edit] Track listing

Radio Promo CD
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Chris Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Black Hole Sun" (edit) (Cornell)
European/German CD #1
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Like Suicide" (acoustic) (Cornell) – 6:11
  3. "Kickstand" (live) (Cornell, Kim Thayil) – 1:58
European CD #2
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Jesus Christ Pose" (live) (Matt Cameron, Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Thayil)
  3. "My Wave" (live) (Cornell, Thayil)
  4. "Spoonman" (Steve Fisk remix) (Cornell)
UK Box Set
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Beyond the Wheel" (live) (Cornell)
  3. "Fell on Black Days" (live) (Cornell)
  4. "Birth Ritual" (demo) (Cornell, Cameron, Thayil)
Australian/German CD #2
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Jesus Christ Pose" (live) (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil)
  3. "Beyond the Wheel" (live) (Cornell)
Promo CD
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Beyond the Wheel" (live) (Cornell)
  3. "Spoonman" (Steve Fisk remix) (Cornell)
UK Picture 7", Cassette Single
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "My Wave" (live) (Cornell, Thayil)
  3. "Beyond the Wheel" (live) (Cornell)
French Promo 12"
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
Jukebox 7"
  1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) – 5:18
  2. "Spoonman" (Cornell) – 4:06

[edit] Chart positions

Information taken from various sources.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

Year Chart Position
1994 Australian Singles Chart 6
Irish Singles Chart 7
French Singles Chart 10
UK Singles Chart 12
Swedish Singles Chart 19
New Zealand Singles Chart 22
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 24
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
US Modern Rock Tracks 2
US Top 40 Mainstream 9
Dutch Singles Chart 25
German Singles Chart 26

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Gardener's Question Time". Kerrang!. March 1, 1997.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Sleepless in Seattle". Guitar World. May 1994.
  3. ^ a b Clay, Jennifer. "Soundgarden: Painting Beautiful Pictures". RIP Magazine. June 1996.
  4. ^ 37th Grammy Awards - 1995. Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  5. ^ Prato, Greg. "Black Hole Sun > Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on May 19, 2008.
  6. ^ Consideine, J.D. "Soundgarden: Superunknown". Rolling Stone. July 31, 1997.
  7. ^ "Soundgarden: The Badass Seed". Rip Magazine. April 1994.
  8. ^ Crisafulli, Chuck. "Rogues Gallery". Request. June 1996.
  9. ^ True, Everett. "Journey into the Superunknown". Melody Maker. March 19, 1994.
  10. ^ Foege, Alec. "The End of Innocence". Rolling Stone. January 12, 1995.
  11. ^ Soundgarden music videos. Music Video Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
  12. ^ Maloof, Rich. "Kim Thayil of Soundgarden: Down on the Upbeat". Guitar Magazine. July 1996.
  13. ^ 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  14. ^ Clio Awards Search Archive. clioawards.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  15. ^ "Black Hole Sun" accolades. Acclaimed Music. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  16. ^ 100 Greatest Singles of All Time. Kerrang!. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  17. ^ The 1001 Best Songs Ever. Q. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  18. ^ The 100 (+300) Greatest Songs of All Time. The Movement. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  19. ^ The 77 Best Singles of the 90s. The Movement. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  20. ^ The 100 Best Singles of All Time. Juice. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  21. ^ Best - Singles of the Year. AcclaimedMusic.net. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  22. ^ EveryHit.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  23. ^ Soundgarden Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  24. ^ Soundgarden – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  25. ^ Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  26. ^ The Irish Charts - All there is to know. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  27. ^ Chartverfolgung / Soundgarden / Single. musicline.de. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  28. ^ Soundgarden. New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  29. ^ Swedish Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay. swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  30. ^ Dutch Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay. dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  31. ^ French Single/Album Chart / Soundgarden / Longplay. lescharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  32. ^ Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  33. ^ Billboard.com / Soundgarden / Longplay. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"Shine" by Collective Soul		 Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
July 16, 1994 - September 2, 1994		 Succeeded by
"Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots
v • d • e
Soundgarden
Chris Cornell · Kim Thayil · Matt Cameron · Ben Shepherd
Scott Sundquist · Hiro Yamamoto · Jason Everman
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
Videos
Singles
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